National Animal Ethics Advisory Committee. Eighth Annual Report. Wellington, New Zealand: Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. 2008. 46 pp. Download (481 kb).

 
CONTENTS
 

1 From the Chair  4
 

2 New Zealand Animal Welfare Infrastructure  7

2.1 Legal Status of the Committee  7

2.2 Infrastructure  7
 

3 Functions  8
 

4 The Committee  9

4.1 Selection of Members  9

4.2 Members  9

4.3 Secretariat  10

4.4 Deputy Chairperson  10

4.5 Fees  10

4.6 Operations  11
 

5 Codes of Ethical Conduct  12

5.1 Requirements of the Animal Welfare Act  1999 12

5.2 Activity During 2007  12

5.3 Codes on MAF Website  13

5.4 Approvals in Force  13

5.5 Approvals Not Made by AECs  14
 

6 AECs  15

6.1 Communication with AECs  15

6.2 Independent Reviews of AECs  16
 

7 The Year’s Issues  17

7.1 Accredited Reviewers and the “Moderation” Process  17

7.2 Three Rs Award  17

7.3 Suggested Amendments to the Animal Welfare Act  17

7.4 NAEAC’s Commitment to the Three Rs 17
7.5 Māori Perspective 18
7.6 Review of Manipulation Severity Scale 18
7.7 Attitudinal Research 18
7.8 Use of Animals in Schools 18
7.9 Liaison with Other Bodies 19

8 Statistics 20
8.1 Animal Usage 20
8.2 Source of Animals 23
8.3 Status of Animals 23
8.4 Outcome 24
8.5 Organisation Type 25
8.6 Animal Reuse 26
8.7 Purpose of Manipulation 26
8.8 Grading of Animal Manipulations 27
8.9 NAEAC Comment 30
8.10 The Three Rs 30
 

Appendix 1  32
Organisations with an Approved Code of Ethical Conduct or with Notified
Arrangements to Use an Approved Code 32

Appendix 2  35
Codes of Ethical Conduct Revoked and Notified Arrangements Terminated 35

Appendix 3  37
Publications 37

Appendix 4  39
Accredited Reviewers 39

Appendix 5  40
Definitions from the Animal Welfare Act 1999 40
Animal Welfare Act 1999 40

Appendix 6  43
Animal Usage Report: Five-year summary of the number of animals used and the
percentage that died or were euthanased (by species) 43

Appendix 7  44
Animal Usage Report: Five-year summary of animal usage (by organisation) 44

Appendix 8  45
“Purpose of Manipulation” Categories Definition Guidelines for Animal Use
Statistics 45

APPENDIX 9  46
Animal Usage Report: summary of the species used (by manipulation grading)
 

Anon. New Zealand Animal Use Statistics for 2007. Pain & Distress Report 2008; 8(4): 3. http://www.hsus.org/web-files/PDF/ARI/pd_reports/pd_report_nov_08.pdf, accessed 5 Nov. 2008.

New Zealand’s National Animal Ethics Advisory Committee recently reported the country’s 2007 animal research, testing, and teaching statistics. The total number of animals used was 246,667, a 23% decrease from 2006. Mice, sheep, cattle, rats, and fish were among the most commonly used species. Since 2006, the number of reptiles, birds, sheep, and cattle used decreased, respectively, by 97%, 90%, 34%, and 28%, while the number of fish, mice, dogs, and rats used increased, respectively, by 61%, 58%, 57%, and 19%. New Zealand grades manipulations from “no suffering” to “very severe suffering”; 22% of the research animals experienced moderate (14%), severe (1%), or very severe (7%) suffering. As in previous years, mice made up the vast majority of animals in the “very severe suffering” category. View the report at http://biosecurity.govt.nz/files/regs/animal-welfare/pubs/naeac/naeac-ar-07.pdf.